Sealing the wood in limber holes

[BillD]

Curious,

I have to drill a couple of limber holes through the new stringer pieces on the 25 T Jason.

The limber holes on the old fir stringers were a simple 3/4" or 1" holes drilled and left the wood exposed.

When the old stringers were cut out to widen the the engine bed the exposed wood had absorbed quite a bit of water over the last 24 years.

How do you guys seal the wood grain inside a drain hole?

I can simply drill some holes and leave them "natural" and let the next owner deal with any structural issues "if any"......

but I like to do things more right than wrong.

Any suggestions?

Appreciated, Bill D

 

[South Shore Boatworks]

limber holes

I would round over the edges of the hole. You can do this with a file or router bit if you have the space then seal the grain with polyester resin. With a chip brush and roller, apply a couple of layers of mat in and around the hole and extend it out an inch or two. Another method for sealing the wood is to brush at least 3 coats of unthickened epoxy

 

[Kaiser]

I would soak the exposed wood with Copper Napthate (copper Brown at Home Depot) using a rag on a coat hanger typ rig. if you do it several times, this area will have several hundred years half life. Since Copper Nap is in a water vehicle It will soak in nicely and should not effect the glass resin. We used to have to do this when we were building DOT inspected timber bridges.

Copper Nap is almost equal to Penta Cloraflorinall in decay resistance protection but not as dangerous to humans........maybe

 

[nickyp]

I am a big fan of painting bare wood with epoxy.
Couple coats of unthickened, followed by a coat of partially thickened 407, just to build up the coating.

Alternatively, you can use the single part oil based "rust lock" paint. The metallic silver stuff.
It penetrates deep, dries fast, and is moisture cured.
I like it.
You will usually get some smart ass saying something like, " what, you worried that your wood will rust?"
Some one like this does not realize that working on boats is all about finding out what works for you, and stays working in the long run.

South shore is 100 percent right in re commending the round over or easing the edges.
No Finnish will stay on a hard edge for very long

 

[BillD]

Thanks for the comments.

I researched the heck out of polyester and vinyl ester resins.

Did some reading on epoxies (West System), came across this article.

for what it's worth:

WEST SYSTEM - Projects - Moisture Exclusion Effectiveness

 

[Keelboater]

Leaving them natural is a nice way of saying who gives a shit. LOL. That seems to be the standard method for boat builders more often than not. I know you'll seal them up with something, because you've already gone this far. If not, some of us won't be able to sleep at night knowing that your new stringers have been hacked!

 

[F/V First Team]

Cut one side of your laminate and pop out your "plug" of solid wood, fill entire void with fiberglass, make it super pretty and let it cure. Wind a hole through your solid glass section, gelcoat and enjoy.

Or you can do down and dirty, wind a hole through and the next time you have a paint roller that's totally enthralled with the resin you've been slinging slide that juicy pearl into the hole being sure to hotcoat your exposed wood super good. Let cure and slice off the ends that stick out, make it pretty with gelcoat and enjoy.

 

[Sailorgp]

coat the holes with any good low viscosity epoxy resin. The small round brushes that comes with baby bottles makes an excellent application tool.

 

[oldshell55]

Drill hole, epoxy , brass insert the kind used in transom of most outboard boats

 

[Alison Tuna]

We will all be dead in 24 years.....who gives a shit.

 

[F/V First Team]

Aw man bummer

 

[aussiejim]

similar to oldshell but epoxy in some pvc pipe cheap and easy

 

[Roy-c]

Brush in several coats of clear penetrating epoxy sealer with an acid brush. Available from Jamestown Distributors in RI. This stuff is really thin and soaks in like you won't believe.

 

[BillD]

We will all be dead in 24 years.....who gives a shit.

I was going to mention that in the original post.

I'd be 85 yrs. old in 24 yrs., long done hauling traps on this boat solo. !

 

[thebridge]

when in doubt....5200

 

[tunafishhkg]

when in doubt....5200

Never seen where any caulking sealed against water by just an exterior or seam joint application. Would not believe that you could not seal a leaking window in a boat by a meticulous fillet application around it but, never was able to on my boat anyhow Maybe in a gasket scenario with two wide surfaces bolted or screwed together but have many times seen even 5200 put in a seam came out after 4 yrs or so.

 

[Kodiakan]

The way your putting that boat together I doubt you'll deal with much fresh water (down there) so i would just put on a P95 mask, prime it and top coat it or oil soak it. Use enough of the other mentioned stuff often enough and chances are good the boat will be great, but you will not...Just my 2 cents from a guy that paid little attention to chemical use and wound up paying a big price healthwise. And yep, the 30 to 50 year old guys will scoff at this just like I used to.........

 

[BillD]

Finished today, 2 coats of epoxy in the hole heavy wetting the wood.
Sanded/scuffed PVC pipe coated cut to angle and inserted.
Let it all kick.

Mixed up another small batch with some cabosil and filled in around the pipe and stringer. Although the wood is sealed inside around the top of the hole I'll dab in some caulking or 5200 around the top 1/3 of the pipe to seal it up.

DONE.

Bare wood lasted 24 yrs. and had only minor water intrusion. I figure @ the least I added an additional 20 years to the 24 years.

 

[oldshell55]

We will all be dead in 24 years.....who gives a shit.

gotta make it nice for the next guy

 

[Keelboater]

Some things literally take just a few minutes to do but the results can last a lifetime. I just had to replace the motor beds in my Bertram only because they didn't spend a quick 10 minutes to tab over the seams of the plywood/mahogany composite where the hatches dripped. You had one Bill, I'm sure you know the drill. It's those tiny shitty little shortcuts that really piss me off, and the reason for so many project boats on this site in the first place. I'm sure the builders said it too.........who gives a shit, we'll all be dead by then. Well guess what, some of us are still alive.........and we are the ones giving the report on factory craftsmanship to the next generation. My 1987 Coastal project is no different than most. The limber holes in the stringers were not sealed from the factory. WTF? Even a 5 minute hack job with glass and resin would have made a big difference. 5 lousy minutes. Is that too much to ask from the builder? Just sayin' is all.